9-Nov-2020: 13th Urban Mobility India Conference on “Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility” Inaugurated

Shri Hardeep S. Puri, MoS (I/C), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has stated that “Future mobility is about striving towards environment-friendly, integrated, automated and personalized travel on-demand. New advancements like intelligent transportation systems, and traffic management applications are in the pipeline for enhanced mobility in major cities.”   He was speaking at the 13th Urban Mobility India Conference on the theme of “Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility” here today.  Prof. Jan Gehl (यान गेहल), Founder and Senior Advisor, M/s Gehl, Mr Jean-Baptiste Djebbari (जों बापटिस्ट जेबारी), Minister Delegate for Transport, Ministry for the Ecological Transition, Government of France, Dr. Claudia Warning, Director-General GIZ, Shri D S Mishra, Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs attended the Conference.  Besides, senior Officers of the Ministry were also present at the Conference.

Addressing the Conference, the Minister said that in the aftermath of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, India is likely to experience a behavioral change in urban mobility. This crisis also presents an opportunity to guide the recovery of urban transport towards long-term development goals. As articulated by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi that the present crisis should be turned into an opportunity to create an 'Aatma Nirbhar Bharat', and the time being ripe enough to make bold decisions and investments. To my friends from abroad, Aatma Nirbhar Bharat essentially means “self-reliant India”.  Investment in infrastructure to address more effective circulation and interchange of people and goods will have an economic multiplier effect — both job-creation in the present and boosting growth and productivity in the future.

India is witnessing the arrival of a new generation of mobility discourses, which are nuanced enough to provide sustainable urban mobility. The Ministry has issued a detailed advisory, as to how the nation needs to move ahead in these testing times. It rests on three key pillars, namely, promotion of public transport system, leveraging technological advancements and penetration of NMT systems in the urban transport paradigm.  Various studies show that about 16-57% of urban commuters are pedestrian and about 30-40% of commuters use bicycles in the country depending on the size of the city. Considering this as an opportunity, elevating the priority of these modes gives travelers another private vehicle alternative, which is clean, safe, secured particularly if it is integrated with other modes and affordable for all. Non-motorised transport will occupy the prime, non-negotiable, position in every form of urban mobility discourse and intervention. During the Conference, Awards for innovations in Urban Transport during Covid-19 were also announced and are enclosed.

3-Nov-2020: Hardeep S. Puri to inaugurate 13th Urban Mobility India Conference 2020

The 13th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference is being organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on 9th November 2020.   The day-long Conference will be held on-line through Video Conference/Webinar.  The main theme of this year’s event is “Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility” with focus on innovative measures taken at national and international level to address the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic to provide accessible and convenient transport to the people.  Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs will deliver the Inaugural Address while the Key-note Address will be by Prof. Jan Gehl, Founder and Senior Adviser of M/s. Gehl Architects.  Mr. Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, Minister Delegate for Transport, attached to the Minister for the Ecological Transition and Dr. Claudia Warning, Director General for the Asia; South – Eastern and Eastern Europe; Middle East; Latin America; Civil Society; Churches, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development ( BMZ) will also be speaking at the Inaugural Session.  Shri Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry will be chairing the Plenary Session on “Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility”.

Till date, 12 events have been organized on the themes mentioned below. State Governments, city authorities and other stakeholders have gained substantially through participation in these conferences

12th UMI Conference 2019

The 12th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference was held from 15th to 17th November, 2019 at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow. The theme of the conference was “Accessible and Liveable Cities”. The conference and exhibition was inaugurated by Shri Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in the presence of Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs, Govt. of India and Shri Girish Chandra Yadav, State Minister of Housing and Urban Planning of Uttar Pradesh. The Institute of Urban Transport (India) provided the technical and logistics support in organizing the conference.  More than 1,000 delegates, including foreign delegates from 10 countries and International organizations, students, urban transport experts, practitioners, resource persons, researchers, scholars and senior government officials from 30 States and Union Territories across India attended the Conference.

Urbanization in India is a reality of the 21st century, which has culminated in the development of India as one of the fastest growing major economy in the world. The transport sector is an important component of the urban economy. However, with rapidly increasing mobility, needs and availability of technology, there is expected shift from vehicle ownership to vehicle sharing and public transport, with higher emphasis on multimodal seamless connectivity and clean mobility. These emerging trends are likely to bring a paradigm shift in the expectations of the commuters and our cities need to adapt to the rapidly changing mobility needs.   To address these issues, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India issued the National Urban Transport Policy, 2006 (NUTP). The objective of the policy is to ensure safe, affordable, quick, comfortable, reliable and sustainable access for the growing number of city residents to jobs, education, recreation and such other needs within our cities.

As part of the NUTP enunciations, the Ministry has taken the initiative to organize an annual international Conference-cum-Exhibition on Urban Mobility India popularly known as UMI. The primary objective of the conference is to disseminate information to the cities, whose officials attend the conference to help them keep up-to-date with latest and best urban transport practices globally. The conference provides an opportunity to interact with other professionals, technology and service providers, both domestic and international, so that the delegates can carry home ideas to develop their urban transport along a sustainable path.  The event brings together national and international experts, technology and service providers, policy makers, practitioners and officials from the urban transport sector under one roof.